Police

01/21/13

“When people doubt the integrity of the police officers in their community it undermines the effectiveness of the police and puts all citizens at risk.”

We have grave concerns regarding how police officers who commit the crime of domestic battery respond to domestic violence calls in the community. Obviously, their attitude may be less than appropriate in dealing with either party. Moreover, a police officer who is sympathetic to an abuser may not adequately protect a victim, projecting his own beliefs that women exaggerate the danger.

The parties agreed to resolutions of both cases last month. The resolutions stipulate that, in order to retain their law enforcement certifications, Nash and Anderson must attend ethics training. Nash (PDF) must also attend training in evidence procedures, while Anderson (PDF) will undergo a chemical dependency evaluation.

Nash and Anderson are two of the seven officers in four separate Lake County law enforcement agencies POST has served with notices of possible certification revocation since the agency began investigations in 2010. Cases against two other officers—Ronan Police Chief Dan Wadsworth and former Lake County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dan Duryee—remain open. Three cases have been dropped.

I can’t imagine a ‘legitimate’ call from law enforcement at one in the morning unless there is an emergency.

According to POST, the officers were off-duty and intoxicated when, at 1:17 a.m., Nash used Anderson’s cellphone to call and intimidate a witness

accused … of accepting, in 2004, a shotgun as a gift for coordinating a sale of guns seized as evidence

Officers are sworn not only to enforce the law, but to abide by it. Police departments have a responsibility to confront illegal behavior, domestic violence is not a private matter — it is a crime.

“Hart and the POST Council concluded that a chemical dependency evaluation is enough.”

Hart said “POST came in and rang some bells…and said, ‘Hey, we’re paying attention here, guys. You’ve got to clean this nonsense up. This is not okay.’”

“They were furious,” she said … “If they could have spilled blood, they would have.”

Many officials in Lake County and beyond have decried POST’s investigations. Polson-Ronan City Attorney James Raymond has called it a “smear campaign.” Lake County Attorney Mitch Young has refused to prosecute;

POST Acting Executive Director Clay Coker:

“I got to say,” Coker said during the meeting, “that this is one of those [cases where] people stood in front of you a year ago [and said], ‘How dare you look at my agency. There’s no problem here’…But at the end of the day, there’s some merit to a couple of these [cases], and they ended up admitting to it.”

9/12

I really really really really really really really really —— hate it when the cops are hiding in the bushes in my front yard. Thank you, ——-, for making me call my child to ‘get down’ for fear of being shot by you. What the police don’t understand is that once they’ve lost trust by doing something stupid or evil, they can never gain it back. Especially by hiding in the bushes. —– cowards. If you’re going to harass the neighbors, just be a man and go to the door and do it honestly. I am especially angry for all the times they never did anything about real danger. Especially when that would have involved questioning a tall or fat moneyed white man. I am especially angry for the way they only treat people so disrespectfully when they are women. Or poor. Or not white. Ah, I forget myself for a minute, in the eyes of our sick sick society, real people wouldn’t live in these hovels.

Latest Update Lake Co. Sheriff Dept. misconduct investigation ends

HELENA- A legislative committee heard testimony on Friday about investigations into alleged misconduct by several law enforcement members in Lake County.

The Law and Justice Committee asked staff from the Department of Justice, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and the Montana POST Council to talk about the process the agencies used to investigate the allegations.